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Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

nytimes.com

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Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#31

Post by ycombigator »

londons_explore wrote: post #21
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement. This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95…

Yeah, but the Chinese masks likely overwhelmingly wont meet the standard.

The first batch might...

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#32

Post by wiradikusuma »

Sorry maybe I missed this from the article, but why not sell to common people through Amazon? In some Asian countries, it's freely available from online marketplaces. The price now down to 1/10 of what it was during the early days of Covid, but since mask is mandatory whenever you go out, it's like staple.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#33

Post by pulse7 »

tpowell wrote: post #24

I thought I was Chicken Little buying my first masks (P100 respirators) in January 2020. I bought a couple more fancy ones in Feb. Days later, decent masks disappeared—those had to last me the rest of 2020. Around November(?), Powecom masks became FDA approved and I've bought plenty through https://bonafidemasks.com . There are coupons floating around (try slickdeals). The headband style ones are a little more $, but…

Just ordered 100x Powecom KN95 FDA Authorized masks on this website based on your comment! Found a valid coupon code (DEAL22). For $95.56 including shipping to Europe this is less than a dollar for a KN95 mask! Thank you!

EDIT: Note the N95 / KN95 difference: N95 is the US standard, KN95 is the China standard.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#34

Post by blub »

OJFord wrote: post #30
morsch wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, FFP2 masks are now available for 1-2 EUR here, individually packaged, and less in packs. They're sold everywhere, from discount supermarkets to pharmacies (where they're a bit more expensive). Of course, prices were much higher a couple of months ago.

Oh, maybe they are here (UK) too then, I haven't been to an actual shop for.. over a year now. I was talking just about Amazon UK, where it was once easy to get FFP2 & FFP3 disposables and non-disposable filters in the DIY section, (I bought them for sanding/plastering/messing about with fibrous insulation) and now it's all shitty AliExpress-style spam.

Amazon.de was sold-out around February-March 2020 and never really recovered. Currently there's only third party sellers which sell FFP2 masks in there.

But masks are widely available in pharmacies and specialized stores. I'd try to find a store selling occupational safety items if I were you.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#35

Post by kokey »

londons_explore wrote: post #21
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement. This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95…

I think the problem is more about buying masks from sellers on Aliexpress with KN95 printed on it which may or may not have actually been tested to meet those requirements. These are the same items that independent sellers on Amazon will end up selling. I'm sure the same happens with some N95/FFP2 masks but from my anecdotal experience this seems to be less common.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#36

Post by zajio1am »

I do not really understand why hospital workers and others that use masks daily for whole shift still use single-use N95 masks and not half-face respirators with reusable filters, like 3M 7500 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5zbj3_ezqE). They are more comfortable and fit much better.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#37

Post by shakna »

londons_explore wrote: post #21
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement. This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95…

Unfortunately, most masks that say they meet the KN95 standard simply don't [0]. Whilst there was an uptick in non-compliant masks after the pandemic, ECRI's findings for previous time periods were about half of batches tested were faulty.

[0] https://assets.ecri.org/PDF/COVID-19-Resource-Center/COVID-N...

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#38

Post by blub »

londons_explore wrote: post #21
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement. This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95…

As the downvoted comment explains, there's good quality masks coming out of China and there's tons of questionable quality masks. Differentiating between the two is difficult if not impossible.

Personally I am using some Chinese made masks every now and then from a reasonably well known company, but they are CE certified FFP2 masks. Still prefer big brands when I can get them though, but they're still ridiculously expensive.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#39

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

morsch wrote: post #18
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

Huh, FFP2 masks are now available for 1-2 EUR here, individually packaged, and less in packs. They're sold everywhere, from discount supermarkets to pharmacies (where they're a bit more expensive). Of course, prices were much higher a couple of months ago.

Where is that? In Austria they're in abundance at every supermarket for 59 cents.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#40

Post by blub »

tpowell wrote: post #24

I thought I was Chicken Little buying my first masks (P100 respirators) in January 2020. I bought a couple more fancy ones in Feb. Days later, decent masks disappeared—those had to last me the rest of 2020. Around November(?), Powecom masks became FDA approved and I've bought plenty through https://bonafidemasks.com . There are coupons floating around (try slickdeals). The headband style ones are a little more $, but…

Foreign governments (ahem, government) bought the masks from underneath the US's nose. The USG should have insta-blocked exports.
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